[SGI-ToMyFriends-Wagatomo] 17th March 2012 To My Friends and Daily Gosho + 18th March 2012 Daily Enc.

A translation of President Ikeda's "To My Friends" published in the Seikyo Shimbun and more.

Saturday, March 17th, 2012
-- TO MY FRIENDS --
Throughout Japan and all over the world,
the solidarity of SGI is widely expanding.
From the bottom of our hearts,
let's give a great round of applause
to our young men and women
for all their struggles and dedicated efforts!

Saturday, March 17th, 2012
--- DAILY GOSHO ---
"Birds and crickets cry, but never shed tears. I, Nichiren, do not cry, but my tears flow ceaselessly. I shed my tears not for worldly affairs but solely for the sake of the Lotus Sutra."

(The True Aspect of All Phenomena - The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, Vol.1, page 386)
Selection source: Kyo no Hosshin, Seikyo Shimbun, March 17th, 2012

Sunday, March 18th, 2012
---- DAILY ENCOURAGEMENT ----
"When we ordinary people of the Latter Day face the Gohonzon, the embodiment of the boundless life-state of Buddhahood, and chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo with deep and strong faith, we can gain entrance to the shining realm of time without beginning manifested in the Gohonzon. The Daishonin refers to the Gohonzon as the 'object of devotion for observing the mind' (cf. WND-1, 354ff). The purpose of the Gohonzon is to enable us to "observe our mind," that is, to see and awaken to the Buddhahood within our own life. But being able to see the true nature of our mind, or attain enlightenment, is not something achieved through conceptual thought or meditative practice; faith is the foundation. That is why, the Daishonin writes: "This Gohonzon also is found only in the two characters for faith." The "object of devotion for observing the mind" is the "object of devotion of faith."

"The Gohonzon (Buddhahood) manifests in the lives of those who have strong faith. A person may possess the Gohonzon, but without faith, they will receive no benefit. Faith is what causes the "cluster of blessings" that is the Gohonzon to manifest itself in our life. Accordingly, as long as our faith stays alive, the "cluster of blessings" will never disappear. Even if we were to lose our material Gohonzon in an accident or natural disaster, as long as we retain our faith, the Gohonzon within our life remains intact and we can activate its beneficial power.

"Only when we have faith does the beneficial power of the Gohonzon manifest itself. Truly, the Gohonzon is found in our faith alone."

SGI Newsletter No. 8466, Learning from the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin: The Teachings for Victory, [35] "The Real Aspect of the Gohonzon", from the December 2011 issue of Daibyakurenge, translated March 6th, 2012

* The Japanese kanji for To My Friends is available by clicking on
Seikyo Shimbun's web-site address at
http://www.seikyoonline.jp/news/index.html

--- WAGATOMO NI OKURU ---
ZENKOKU ZENSEKAI DE
SOKA NO "scrum" GA
OKIKU KAKUDAI!
DANJO SEINENBU NO FUNTO NI
KOKORO KARA KASSAI O!

-- KYO NO GOSHO --
"TORI TO MMUSHI TOWA NAKEDOMO NAMIDA OCHIZU NICHIREN WA NAKANEDOMO NAMIDA HIMA NASHI KONO NAMIDA SEKEN NO KOTO NIWA ARAZU TADA HITOENI HOKEKYO NO YUE NARI"
(Gosho Zenshu, page 1361)

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